Vittorio Hernandez
Wellington, New Zealand (AHN) - A new online tool launched by the New Zealand Police Department allows its citizens to help write legislation. The first law that Kiwis will be permitted to craft is the nation's new police act, which was first enacted in 1958.
The wiki site is similar to a whiteboard which is open to anyone who want to post their views, Superintendent Hamish McCardle, office in charge of the review, told the BBC. "Launching a wiki version of a statute is a novel move, but one we hope will yield a range of views from people interested in having a direct say on the shape of a new Policing Act," McCardle said.
The final output of the legislation review will be turned over to a parliamentary committee in 2008. Aaron Smith of the Pew Internet Project in the U.S. welcomed the introduction by New Zealand of the wiki as another pioneering move in online government.
"You see a lot of government sites worldwide allowing for various feedback mechanisms... but in terms of bringing this to the public in the form of writing laws, that's obviously a different thing entirely and something that we certainly haven't seen yet," Smith said.
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